Steve,
Picking from the actors on the list, I think I'd go with Cary-Hiroyuka Tagarwa as Charlie Chan.
I think Jackie Chan would be great . . . as a Chan son if it were continuing the series after Sky Dragon.
Which leaves us with the question of when would the movie be set . . . . My choices would be good, IMHO, regardless of when but might be the best choice if it were set today.
Sorry I didn't reply sooner, Steve, but this was a very thought-provoking question!
Cary-Hiroyuka Tagarwa as Charlie Chan? Of the people on the list he is the only one with the skills and look for the job. The others are really not good Charlie materal. Most are handsome pretty boys/action heroes. Jackie Chan isn't really suitable as Charlie and is too old to play a son. Of course Cary-Hiroyuka Tagarwa, though he could do the job as Charlie Chan is of Japanese decent and probaly wouldn't go over too well. There must be somewhere out there we're overlooking. As for the time period I vote for Chan in the 1930s. I'm not a big fan of a modern day Chan. It would take a lot of the charm out of the character. If in today's world he couldn't wear a hat and suit and not stick out. They gave Emma Roberts a retro wardrobe and the character came off as odd.
How about Paul J.Q. Lee as Charlie Chan? Looking through the cast of "Big Trouble In Little China" he seemed to be a possible candidate as a new Charlie Chan. In fact I came across his resume online with his agent's email. I wrote her and suggested she look into the possibilty a getting him the role. Hey, I can dream can't I?
I maybe Old Fashioned, But personally I think A Caucasian Actor Should play CHARLIE CHAN. The best actors (Warner Oland & Sidney Tolar) that played Charlie Chan were not Asian. I would cast JACKIE CHAN or JET LI as Charlie's sons, maybe LUCY LIU as Charlie's Daughter, but Charlie himself should definately be a Caucasian Actor. Don't know who, However?
Great question, and one that has come up among Chan fans on occasion.
Of the list of possibilities given, I would also go with Cary-Hiroyuka Tagarwa. One possible "problem" here, is that Mr. Tagawara, as with the others, would need to consume a few calories before assuming the role! Physically, no one on the list remotely matches Earl Derr Biggers' description of Charlie Chan any more than did Kamiyama Sojin 80-plus years ago.
My actual choice would go to a gentlemen whom I saw a couple of years ago on a television commercial for a product long forgotten by Your Truly! He looked perfect to me, physically, and he had something of a kindly, "everyman" visage. Looking at the more well-known movie actors of Chinese (or Asian) heritage today, I am struck by the apparent dearth of variety. As mentioned above, many seem to be younger, handsome fellows caught up in the current tsunami of martial arts "exploitation" films.
I think that the best bet in finding the right actor to fill the role would require a broad search that would not necessarily focus on the bigger names. Also, if an actor who is known for martial arts/action-type films were to be chosen, we would almost certainly expect a martial arts/action-dominated "Charlie Chan" picture to result, yes?
The time period? The 1930s. We even have a great Biggers Chan story available for use: the only adventure by the author that never made it to the big screen, "Keeper of the Keys."
Rush,
Your post about fitting Earl Derr Biggers' Charlie Chan made me realize about setting such a movie today: The current politically correct attitude on, for lack of a better term, the physical aesthetic movement towards getting people as overweight as Chan to get his weight down.
For his own good now!
So if he can't LOOK like Chan then he would HAVE to be a Martial Arts expert to have SOME kind of hook or be boring as all get out.
IMHO.
So setting Chan anywhere from the 30s through the 50s might be better than we might think.
